Electronic telephone client service provider system (EP/CSP)

ABSTRACT

An alpha-numeric string electronic telephone and client service provider communication system is superimposed over the existing Internet, telephone, and pager legacy systems to provide a much simpler communication system that will work seamlessly with the existing communication systems. The new system will allow an unlimited number of connections and an unlimited numbers of signal type protocols to be used in the future and eventually phase out all of the separate numeric only telephone systems world wide and at the same time integrate the legacy e-mail system of the Internet with the legacy world wide numeric communication systems in a seamless and more powerful manner. Some other advantages of the new system is to eliminate the need for having to list up to five or more numbers on an individual business card. The system can eliminate the need to show multiple area codes at the same location and can even eliminate the need to have to give out ones company extension number. Another major benefit is that at least two types of communication connections can be offered at different prices to the customer. With the current invention a client service provider can offer connections of the legacy direct type at one price and connection via the Internet at a different price depending on the service requested by the customer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to the provisional patentapplication identified by U.S. Serial No. 60/121,193, entitled“Electronic Telephone Service Provider System”, which was filed on Feb.23, 1999.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The Internet has rapidly changed the way people are starting tocommunicate and the Internet Service Provider has given rise to arapidly growing service industry. The legacy post office mail andtelephone system communication methods are rapidly being replaced bye-mail communication. The reason is simple; e-mail is both moreconvenient and less expensive than legacy mail and/or long distancecharges. This is especially true for other country mail delivery orlegacy telephone service. Before long, the facsimile machine will hardlybe recognizable in its present form (see co-pending MIMS inventionSerial No. 60/114,594). Even new telephones, and software operated onISP platforms designed to use the Internet to reduce long distancecharges are becoming more user friendly even though they are far frompractical. However all of these new Internet communication systems stillkeep the e-mail address separate from the telephone numbers created bythe legacy telephone companies. That is, many business cards now have tocarry the telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address, pagernumber and even a 1-800 number to provide basic communicationinformation to the recipient. At the same time, the communicationbandwidth infrastructure such as, fiber optics cables, low orbitsatellites, digital cellular telephones, and DSP is allowing the legacytelephone numbering system to grow at a rate it never anticipated. Somecities such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, etc., have had to add newarea codes over old area codes causing many customers to have differentarea codes at the same location. It is predicted that this situationwill only get worse as more and more machines require their owntelephone connection. In short, a more modern communication system isneeded that has unlimited growth and is consistent with the new InternetProtocol systems. This invention describes such a system and will allowcommunication connection information in the future to use alpha-numericstrings which are easily understood by everybody all over the world andrelate to all of the connection devices that an individual or businessneeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The new telephone system described herein uses and combines thebasic infrastructure and methods of existing legacy telephone systems,pager systems, and e-mail systems. The new system refers to one keysubsystem element as an E-phone (EP) to distinguish it from the legacytelephones and the other key subsystem element as a Client ServiceProvider Unit (CSPU) to distinguish it from the existing legacytelephone service systems. The CSP system can use both regular telephoneand pager numbers to connect to another person or machine and it can usee-mail addresses to connect to another person or machine. However eachEP has at least one e-mail address associated with it that has beenverified as unique by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP couldalso be your local telephone company. Any person can then contact youusing your e-mail address from their EP, computer, or web televisionand/or for many years in the future contact you using your old legacytelephone or pager numbers. Thus the preferred embodiment of the EP/CSPinvention allows graceful and convenient conversion into the informationage using a new alphanumeric system to replace the legacy numericsystems. Equally important the new system allows a seamless conversionto a universal worldwide “alpha-numeric” system that each country canuse to eventually phase out their existing limited “area code” numberingsystem. That is, there will be no need for country codes once the EP/CSPsystem is in full operation. An early inconvenience for those not usedto computers and keyboards, is the need for dialing alpha-numeric e-mailaddresses rather than just numeric numbers. However the change to themandatory ten numbers dialing system is conditioning most people forchange already. Also, most of the new digital telephones allowindividuals to store up to several hundred telephone numbers forautomatic dialing so such an inconvenience will be more than offset bynot having to remember separate facsimile, telephone, and e-mailinformation for the same person or company. For example, the EP/CSPsystem allows a person to have a single e-mail number for the telephone,and by adding “/F” or “/M”, or other suitable codes, at the end of thee-mail number, one can call the same person's facsimile or computermodem. Thus only one alphanumeric string is required on the businesscard or letterhead. Also, if you are in a company and have an extensionyou just add “/xxx” for the extension number. With this example you canquickly see that the new system will provide unlimited telephonecapacity and eliminate the need for having separate 1-800, facsimile,e-mail, telephone, and pager directories which must be constantlyupdated. In fact the new system will automatically search for all fivenumbers each time you call and if the individual does not have the oneyou called it will tell you the individual does not have that service(e.g. 1-800 service). All the caller has to do is add “/xxx” for thedesired service. For example, if one computer is calling anothercomputer then the computer software will automatically add “/M” at theend of the e-mail number and the CSP will connect the caller to thecomputer line rather than the voice or facsimile line. The new system isalso suited for the conversion to line sharing systems such as the onerecently announced by Sprint. This is because the EP/CSP subsystemelements automatically listen for their coded address before allowing aconnection to be made or a function delivered. This is part of theInternet protocol features that are incorporated into the EP/CSP systemdesign. That is, the EP telephone will work with both dedicated linessystems and network systems such as WWW, the company Intranet orExtranet. Thus the EP/CSP system design truly anticipates and combinesthe various types of communication styles used today and foreseen in the21^(st) century. At the same time, it provides an alpha-numericnumbering system that would allow the individual or community to growwith out worrying about the CSP running out of telephone numbers justbecause more lines (actually, more connections) were needed. At the timeof this invention there is estimated to be several hundred millionunique e-mail addresses worldwide, and the number is growing at a rateof several 100,000 per day. To change our legacy telephone systems overto a method that takes advantage of the unique e-mail alphanumericstrings that are being created at very low cost would allow all types ofcommunication systems to grow in an unlimited and less costly manner inthe future. In other words, it just makes good sense and provides manyopportunities for the telephone companies to get into the Internetservice business and for telephone companies to offer Internet services.Services such as direct connect and Internet connect at two differentrates (e.g., in FIG. 1 have direct connect over line 25 at one rate andInternet connect over line 26 at a lower rate).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 shows a diagram depicting the major E-phone communicationsubsystem elements. Several types of E-phone units are shown by way ofexample representing the most common telephone system I/O units in usetoday. Also the four most common direct means of connecting telephonesand data machines today are shown along with an Internet link which usesthe same infrastructure lines as the direct connect lines but with aspecial protocol which allows universal packet communication betweenInternet Service Providers. An EP/CSP service provider central processorunit which could likely be one of the telephone companies such as AT&Tor World Com or even an ISP such as AOL.

[0005]FIG. 2 shows the CSP processing unit and the signal flow logic inmore detail. Only those portions required to turn an existing legacytelephone service provider into an EP/CSP system are shown, the rest ofthe elements are grouped and put into the legacy telephone systemProcessing unit.

[0006]FIG. 3 shows an EP/CSP conversion process example that is at theheart of the CSP processing unit of the present invention.

[0007]FIG. 4 shows the EPU basic function elements and logic flowdiagram showing a distinction between voice and data messages. Also,FIG. 4 is used to describe how data messages can be sent or receivedover the E-phone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Referring to FIG. 1, the basic EP and CSP subsystem elements aredepicted and are comprised of the EP caller and receiver units 10, thecommunication links 20, and the communication Client Service ProviderUnit (CSPU) 30. The caller EP units 10 are the same as the receiver EPunits 10 except in the case of one way pager EP unit. Although, any ofthe caller EP units 10, can be used with any of the receiver EP units10. By way of example a caller may be using a WEB TV or computertelephone EP unit 10 and contact someone that is using a regulartelephone EP unit 10. Since this is understood, hereafter, we will notmake a distinction between the caller and receiver EP units 10 unless itis required to make a distinction for the sake of clarity as is the casewith the one way pager EP units. These E-phone Units (EPU) 10 areconnected via 25 by one of several common direct connect communicationlinks 20 ranging from the old copper wires to fiber optic cables andsatellite links and of course this includes the Internet Backbones shownseparately as connected by 26. The wireless cellular network links areshown in 20 since they are the communication links of choice fornon-urban systems and pager networks. One connection and communicationsession between two EPU 10 subsystem elements may use any combination orall four methods shown in 20, depending on the locations of the EPU'sbeing connected and the service requested. The communication link 20 isconnected via 35 (direct connect) and 36 (Internet connect) to at leastone CSP 30 which is used to condition the communication signals anddetermine the amount of money to charge the EPU 10 owner responsible forthe call and service provided.

[0009] Referring now to FIG. 2, the CSPU 30 is further described to showhow the signal from the EPU unit 10 received from one of the links 30via 35 or 36 is processed using the new alpha-numeric protocols andmethods. The CSPU 30 has a communication interface and modem unit (CMU)310 that is the same as used in current telephone processing centers.This CMU 310 is connected via 315 to a special front end processing unit320 that looks for the “@” symbol (or other selected special symbol ifthe preferred embodiment is not used) in the front end connection signal35. Please note that the symbol is used herein merely by way of example,and another symbol or group of symbols could be used in implementing thepresent invention. Note, the physical connection portion of the CMU 310is not discussed since there are no changes required in this part of thelegacy systems signal processing to implement the EP and CSP systemdescribed. If no “@” Symbol is detected in the front-end protocolconnection signal 35 by unit 320 then the signal is sent via 325directly to the existing legacy telephone Service Provider Unit forprocessing (LSPU) 350 for normal dialing and connection. That is, if alegacy protocol signal 35 is detected by 30, the CSPU 30 operates justlike in a LSPU of today. When an “@” symbol is detected in the front-endprotocol the signal is sent via line 327 from unit 320 to the @StringConversion Processing Unit (@CPU) 330 for processing. The @CPU 330primarily checks to find the legacy numbers associated with the @Stringreceived via line 327. In addition the @CPU 330 determines which type ofconnection the EPU 10 caller requested. That is, the @CPU 330 determinesif the caller EPU 110 requested to be connected to a computer modem,facsimile, pager, e-mail, extension, etc. In the preferred embodimentthe “/xxx” symbols are used to make such choices since they are naturalextensions of the Internet back slash “/” methods becoming so familiarto everyone. The suggested method is an advanced form of legacyfront-end protocols like “*72” used to day to have special meaning suchas, “call forwarding” to the LSPU 350 units. If the telephone companieswant to use different standards, this does not change the role of the@CPU 330, only the symbols which need to be detected. In other wordsthis system lays right on top and at the front-end and back-end of theexisting LSPU 350 systems. When a match between a legacy number is madeat the @String the @CPU 330 will normally send the legacy numberdirectly to the LSPU 350 via line 335. In cases where there is no matchbut the e-mail address has been verified along with the type ofconnection requested (e.g. modem, facsimile, etc), the @CPU 330 sendsthe signal via line 337 to the E-telephone Dialer Processing Unit (EDPU)340 to condition the signal for connection. The EDPU 340 is verysimilar, if not the same hardware, as most LSPU 350 systems since itsrole is to send both protocol and communication signals via line 345 tothe CMU 310 unit for connection. The only difference is that the EDPU340 knows that the receiver EPU 10 is using the new CSP alphanumericsystem and thus there are many more signaling options available. Themost notable would be communication over the Internet similar to theInternet telephones using a much lower price since the messages will bepacket switched all the way rather than a dedicated line for the “lastmile” on each end. Note that for many years the telephone companies mayassign “Virtual” numbers to the various alpha-numeric strings in orderto use the existing LSPU 350 systems for connection purposes. Howeverwhen it comes to packet switching and Internet connections the emailstrings probably will be easier for the time-shared links such asnetworks. Again these are choices that do not change the nature of theinvention and are considered to be options made available with thecurrent overlay design of the preferred embodiment described herein.

[0010] Referring to FIG. 3, the @CPU 330 and CSP 30 is further describedby way of a typical conversion example. In FIG. 3, an “@” detectedsignal is sent from the front-end processing unit 320 via line 327 tothe CSP 30 @CPU unit 330 that has an Address Correlator Unit (ACU) 90connected via line 93 to a Client Service Provider Database Unit (CSPDU)91, and via line 97 to a legacy number storage unit (LSU) 92, and vialine 98 to an e-mail alpha-numeric string storage unit 95. The exampleshows that the ACU 90 receives a request to connect to alpha numericC1C2@AOL.com/f (a facsimile number) via line 327. The ACU 90 thencross-correlates with the CSPDU 91 and sends all the available legacynumbers to storage units 92 via line 97, and the alpha-numeric storageunit 95 receives all the @strings via line 98. Initially, only the “/F”number is sent to the LPSU 350 via line 335 even though it wasdetermined that the individual being called also had a regular telephonenumber 01-571-3833, a modem number 01-214-631-9301, and a pager number01-817475-2484 shown in storage unit 92. In the example given if the LSU92 was empty then the output would have been C1C2@AOL.com/f sent out online 337. The reason a complete correlation is done by the ACU 90 is forother options that might be exercised later in case the receiver EPU 10fails to answer the connect signal in a predetermined length of time.The most obvious other options are predetermined requests to page theowner of the receiver EPU 10 or send a voice message to the receiver EPU10 voice box. Such services are in common use today so the currentinvention makes it easy to fulfill such services and even add some newservices. Services, like paging on demand by the caller EPU 10. Thiscould be done by using a special double back slash such as “//p” for arequest by the caller EPU 10 to page the individual if they have areceiver EPU 10 page number, and there is no answer after apredetermined period of time. Also the request may be for a low costInternet connection using lines 26 and 36 if a direct connection can notbe made on lines 25 and 35. Today no such demand options are availableto the caller EPU 10, only to the owner of the receiver EPU 10 are theseoptions available plus they are not demand options but on or offoptions. These are just some of the advantage of combining all of thevarious legacy systems into a worldwide network. Note that the ACU 90and CSPDU 91 units are really distributed units spread all over theworld and connected by router networks used to keep the master databases current just like the Internet systems use. However, with thetechnology today this is not such a difficult task and must be doneanyway for the WWW traffic. The point is, this part of the system willmost likely be distributed for several years to come even though it isdepicted in this system as a simple data base CSPDU 91 and correlatorACU 90 unit.

[0011] Finally, referring to FIG. 4, the basic function elements of theEPU 10 are shown along with a signal logic flow diagram. The EPU 10 hasan External Interface Unit (EIU) 105 connected to the communication link20 via line(s) 25 for direct connect and 26 for Internet connect. TheEIU 105 is shown connected to the Modem Unit (MU) 110 via line(s) 102which may be the same or might be different just like the lines 25 or 26may be the same or different. A power source 112 is connected to all theunits but for simplicity is only shown connected to the EIU 105. The EIU105 and MU 110 are the basic communication elements and depending on ifthe EPU 10 is a computer, cellular telephone, WEB TV system or regulartelephone each one has these two communication elements does not need tochange. Also, most of the new telephones have a Digital Processing Unit(DPU) 120 connected to a Video Unit (VU) 140 and an Audio Unit (AU) 150and all telephones have some sort of Keyboard Unit (KU) 130 (exceptpossibly rotary dialers). All telephones also have unique code stringsassigned either at the telephone end or at the CSP line connection 25 or26 end. This unique string is represented by the E-phone string codestorage unit (EPCSU) 170 that is shown connected to the DPU 120 via line175. To stay simple such things as ring circuits, off hook and busysignal detectors are included in the appropriate elements shown and arewell known to those skilled in the art.

[0012] All of the basic function elements of FIG. 4 are available withthe Nokia 9000 units and with any 1999 PC using the appropriatecommunication software package such as Communicator PRO. As in the caseof the legacy service provider systems, LSPU 350, the legacy systemEPU's 10 have a Protocol overlay on the Front end (the caller functionend) and the Back end (the receiver function end). On the Front end theuser only has to learn how to type in alphanumeric strings, such as ane-mail address or a domain name, in addition to legacy communicationnumbers using the KU 130. This caller string is then sent via 135 to theDPU 120 and appended after the EP unique code denoting the caller IDfrom the EPCSU 170 from those EPU 10 units that have that functionperformed at the EPU 10 location. Both of these signals are then sentdirectly from the DPU 120 via lines 115,102, and 25 or 26 to the CSP 30via line 35 or 36. When standard legacy telephones are used such as arein most of the homes today the caller ID is appended at the CSPlocation. However, for purposes of clarity this description assumes itis performed at the EPU 10.

[0013] For most people in this country this process is already becomingsecond nature because of the requirement to use computers in almostevery aspect of every day life. On the Back end (the receiver function)the user can receive much more information with out having to have manydifferent telephone or communication numbers and interconnect systems.That is, one can get e10 mail, voice messages, facsimile messages allfrom one service provider and all from one message box. Now one has tosign up for multiple services to achieve this and still keep track oflegacy telephone systems. In short all current EPU 10 subsystems couldbecome more useful and simpler to use if a unified alphanumeric stringsystem was adopted and implemented by one or more CSP companies. In factthe current invention would allow ISP companies such as AOL to get intothe Communication business and allow the communication Companies, suchas World Corn or AT&T, to offer Internet services. Since Deregulationtakes effect march 31^(st) of 1999 this invention would open the doorfor many companies. Also it is worth noting that the current thrust ofthe telephone and handheld computer manufactures are to deliver EPU'sthat will allow the user to connect all of the legacy Internet,telephone, and Pager service providers together while keeping theProtocol systems separate. This invention meets the same objectives byoverlaying a new alphanumeric string system compatible with all of theexisting legacy communication systems. Consequently a much simpler EPUis possible with much more services available to the EPU owner.

[0014] Also, FIG. 4 is used to describe how data messages can be sent orreceived over the E-phone. These are features that are not currentlyavailable in the legacy telephone system. The features are availableusing the new breed of combination hand held computers/telephone unitssuch as the Nokia 9000 communicator series or with modern telephonesoftware designed for PC systems such as Communicator PRO. However allof these other systems assume that the telephone number is differentthan the e-mail address and handle e-mail communications and telephonecommunication in two entirely different modes. When making telephonecalls the systems use the legacy telephone system protocols and methodsand when performing e-mail communication they use legacy e-mailprotocols and methods, when contacting someone by pager, the pagernumbering system and protocol are used. The E-phone system allows thesefunctions to be combined and greatly simplify the communication processfor the individual and will also simplify the communication systems ofthe future compared to the multi-legacy systems of today.

[0015] Changes may be made in the steps or sequence of steps of theconstruction or operation or mode methods described herein with outdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined inthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a telecommunications network containing acaller E-phone and a plurality of receiver E-phones with each of thereceiver E-phones being identified by a different alphanumeric string, amethod comprising the steps of: receiving a front end connection signalfrom the caller E-phone, the front-end connection signal including analphanumeric string associated with a particular receiver E-phone; andconnecting the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone associated withthe alphanumeric string in the front-end connection signal so as topermit communication therebetween.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thealphanumeric string is an e-mail address.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the alphanumeric string is a domain name.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the alphanumeric string in the front end connection signalidentifies an entity having a plurality of receiver E-phones with eachreceiver E-phone being identified by a function code, and wherein thefront-end connection signal includes the alphanumeric string and thefunction code cooperating to identify one of the receiver E-phones, andwherein the step of connecting the caller E-phone to the receiverE-phone is defined further as connecting the caller E-phone unit to thereceiver E-phone unit identified by the alphanumeric string and thefunction code so as to permit communication therebetween.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising the step of correlating the alphanumericstring included in the front end connection signal with a numericstring.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the numeric string is atelephone number.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofreceiving the front end connection signal is defined further asreceiving a demand code in the front end connection signal identifying aselected function; and initiating the selected function identified inthe demand code in response to a predetermined event.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the telecommunications network includes a directconnect network, and an internet network, and wherein the step ofreceiving the front end connection signal is defined further asreceiving a demand code in the front end connection signal, and the stepof connecting the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone associated withthe alphanumeric string in the front-end connection signal is definedfurther as connecting the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone via thedirect connect network where the demand code in the front end connectionsignal indicates that the connection be made via the direct connectnetwork, and connecting via the internet network where the demand codein the front end connection signal indicates that the connection be madevia the internet network.
 9. A method for connecting a caller E-phone toat least one of a plurality of receiver E-phones, at least one of thereceiver E-phones being identified by a unique alphanumeric string, anda telephone number, the method comprising the steps of: receiving afront end connection signal from the caller E-phone, the front-endconnection signal including at least one of an alphanumeric string and atelephone number associated with one particular receiver E-phone; andconnecting the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone identified by theat least one of the alphanumeric string and the telephone number in thefront-end connection signal so as to permit communication therebetween.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the alphanumeric string is an e-mailaddress.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the alphanumeric string is adomain name.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the alphanumeric stringin the front end connection signal identifies an entity having aplurality of receiver E-phones with each receiver E-phone beingidentified by a function code, and wherein the front-end connectionsignal includes the alphanumeric string and the function codecooperating to identify one of the receiver E-phones, and wherein thestep of connecting the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone is definedfurther as connecting the caller E-phone unit to the receiver E-phoneunit identified by the alphanumeric string and the function code so asto permit communication therebetween.
 13. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising the step of correlating the alphanumeric string included inthe front end connection signal with the telephone number.
 14. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the step of receiving the front endconnection signal is defined further as receiving a demand code in thefront end connection signal identifying a selected function; andinitiating the selected function identified in the demand code inresponse to a predetermined event.
 15. The method of claim 9, whereinthe telecommunications network includes a direct connect network, and aninternet network, and wherein the step of receiving the front endconnection signal is defined further as receiving a demand code in thefront end connection signal, and the step of connecting the callerE-phone to the receiver E-phone associated with the alphanumeric stringin the front-end connection signal is defined further as connecting thecaller E-phone to the receiver E-phone via the direct connect networkwhere the demand code in the front end connection signal indicates thatthe connection be made via the direct connect network, and connectingvia the internet network where the demand code in the front endconnection signal indicates that the connection be made via the internetnetwork.
 16. A method for connecting a caller E-phone to at least one ofa plurality of receiver E-phones with at least two of the receiverE-phones identified by a same alphanumeric string, each receiver E-phoneidentified by the same alphanumeric string being individually identifiedwith a different function code, the method comprising the steps of:receiving a front end connection signal from the caller E-phone, thefront end connection signal including an alphanumeric string identifyingat least two of the receiver E-phones, and a function code identifying aparticular one of the receiver E-phones identified by the alphanumericstring; and connecting the caller E-phone unit to the receiver E-phoneunit identified by the alphanumeric string and the function code in thefront-end connection signal so as to permit communication therebetween.17. The method of claim 16, wherein the alphanumeric string is an e-mailaddress.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the alphanumeric string isa domain name.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising the stepof correlating the alphanumeric string included in the front endconnection signal with a numeric string.
 20. The method of claim 19,wherein the numeric string is a telephone number.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the step of receiving the front end connection signalis defined further as receiving a demand code in the front endconnection signal identifying a selected function; and initiating theselected function identified in the demand code in response to apredetermined event.
 22. The method of claim 16, wherein thetelecommunications network includes a direct connect network, and aninternet network, and wherein the step of receiving the front endconnection signal is defined further as receiving a demand code in thefront end connection signal, and the step of connecting the callerE-phone to the receiver E-phone associated with the alphanumeric stringin the front-end connection signal is defined further as connecting thecaller E-phone to the receiver E-phone via the direct connect networkwhere the demand code in the front end connection signal indicates thatthe connection be made via the direct connect network, and connectingvia the internet network where the demand code in the front endconnection signal indicates that the connection be made via the internetnetwork.
 23. A client service provider unit for connecting a callerE-phone to a receiver E-phone uniquely identified by at least one of analphanumeric string and a numeric string, comprising: a backendtelephone system processing unit outputting a connect signal includingprotocol and communication signals, responsive to receiving a signalcontaining a numeric string, to connect the caller E-phone to thereceiver E-phone identified by the numeric string; an E-phone dialerprocessing unit outputting a connect signal including protocol andcommunication signals, responsive to receiving a signal containing analphanumeric string, to connect the caller E-phone to the receiverE-phone identified by the alphanumeric string; a front-end processingunit receiving a front-end connection signal containing one of analphanumeric string and a numeric string uniquely identifying thereceiver E-phone from the caller E-phone, the front-end processing unitdetermining which of the alphanumeric string and the numeric string iscontained in the front-end connection signal, and outputting a firstsignal including the alphanumeric string where the front-end connectionsignal includes the alphanumeric string, and a second signal includingthe numeric string to the backend telephone system processing unit wherethe front end connection signal includes the numeric string whereby thebackend telephone system processing unit connects the caller E-phone tothe receiver E-phone identified by the numeric string; a stringconversion processing unit receiving the first signal including thealphanumeric string from the front end processing unit, the stringconversion processing unit comprising a client service provider E-maildatabase including a plurality of alphanumeric strings identifying aplurality of receiver E-phones and a plurality of numeric stringsidentifying a plurality of receiver E-phones where each of the numericstrings in the client service provider E-mail database is correlatedwith at least one of the alphanumeric strings in the client serviceprovider E-mail database, the string conversion processing unitdetermining whether at least one of the plurality of numeric strings inthe client service provider E-mail database is correlated with thealphanumeric string included in the first signal, and outputting asignal, including the numeric string correlated with the alphanumericstring in the first signal, to the backend telephone system processingunit where one of the plurality of numeric strings in the client serviceprovider E-mail database is correlated with the alphanumeric stringincluded in the first signal whereby the backend telephone systemprocessing unit connects the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phoneidentified by the numeric string, and outputting a signal, including thealphanumeric string in the first signal, to the E-phone dialerprocessing unit where one of the plurality of numeric strings in theclient service provider E-mail database is not correlated with thealphanumeric string included in the first signal whereby the E-phonedialer processing unit connects the caller E-phone to the receiverE-phone identified by the alphanumeric string.
 24. The client serviceprovider unit of claim 23, wherein the alphanumeric string contained inthe front end connection signal is an email address.
 25. The clientservice provider unit of claim 23, wherein the alphanumeric stringcontained in the front end connection signal is a domain name.
 26. Theclient service provider unit of claim 23, wherein a function code and analphanumeric string are contained in the front end connection signal,the alphanumeric string being correlated in the client service providerE-mail database with at least two numeric strings in the client serviceprovider E-mail database such that the alphanumeric string and thefunction code cooperate to uniquely identify one of the numeric strings.27. The client service provider unit of claim 23, wherein the front endconnection signal further includes a demand code to initiate a selectedfunction in response to a predetermined event.
 28. The client serviceprovider unit of claim 27, wherein the predetermined event is thereceiver E-phone failing to answer the connect signal.
 29. The clientservice provider unit of claim 28, wherein the selected function isconnecting, via at least one of the backend telephone system processingunit and the E-phone dialer processing unit, the caller E-phone to aselected receiver E-phone, the selected receiver E-phone being differentfrom the receiver E-phone identified by the alphanumeric string in thefront end connection signal.
 30. The client service provider unit ofclaim 28, wherein the selected function is connecting, via at least oneof the backend telephone system processing unit and the E-phone dialerprocessing unit, the caller E-phone to a voice mail system associatedwith the receiver E-phone identified by the alphanumeric string in thefront end connection signal.
 31. A client service provider unit forconnecting a caller E-phone to a receiver E-phone uniquely identified byat least one of an alphanumeric string and a telephone number,comprising: a backend telephone system processing unit outputtingprotocol and communication signals, responsive to receiving a signalcontaining a telephone number, to connect the caller E-phone to thereceiver E-phone identified by the telephone number; an E-phone dialerprocessing unit outputting protocol and communication signals,responsive to receiving a signal containing an alphanumeric string, toconnect the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone identified by thealphanumeric string; a front-end processing unit receiving a front-endconnection signal containing one of an alphanumeric string and atelephone number uniquely identifying the receiver E-phone callerE-phone, the front-end processing unit de of the alphanumeric string andthe telephone number contained in the front-end connection signal, andoutputting a first signal including the alphanumeric string where thefront-end connection signal includes the alphanumeric string, and asecond signal including the telephone number to the backend telephonesystem processing unit where the front end connection signal includesthe telephone number whereby the backend telephone system processingunit connects the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phone identified bythe telephone number; a string conversion processing unit receiving thefirst signal including the alphanumeric string from the front endprocessing unit, the string conversion processing unit comprising aclient service provider E-mail database including a plurality ofalphanumeric strings and a plurality of telephone numbers where each ofthe telephone numbers in the client service provider E-mail database iscorrelated with at least one of the alphanumeric strings in the clientservice provider E-mail database, the string conversion processing unitdetermining whether at least one of the plurality of telephone numbersin the client service provider E-mail database is correlated with thealphanumeric string included in the first signal, and outputting asignal, including the telephone number correlated with the alphanumericstring in the first signal, to the backend telephone system processingunit where one of the plurality of telephone numbers in the clientservice provider E-mail database is correlated with the alphanumericstring included in the first signal whereby the backend telephone systemprocessing unit connects the caller E-phone to the receiver E-phoneidentified by the telephone number, and outputting a signal, includingthe alphanumeric string in the first signal, to the E-phone dialerprocessing unit where one of the plurality of telephone numbers in theclient service provider E-mail database is not correlated with thealphanumeric string included in the first signal whereby the E-phonedialer processing unit connects the caller E-phone to the receiverE-phone identified by the alphanumeric string.
 32. The client serviceprovider unit of claim 31, wherein the alphanumeric string contained inthe front end connection signal is an email address.
 33. The clientservice provider unit of claim 31, wherein the alphanumeric stringcontained in the front end connection signal is a domain name.
 34. Theclient service provider unit of claim 31, wherein a function code and analphanumeric string are contained in the front end connection signal,the alphanumeric string being correlated in the client service providerE-mail database with at least two numeric strings in the client serviceprovider E-mail database such that the alphanumeric string and thefunction code cooperate to uniquely identify one of the numeric strings.35. The client service provider unit of claim 31, wherein the front endconnection signal further includes a demand code to initiate a selectedfunction in response to a predetermined event.
 36. The client serviceprovider unit of claim 35, wherein the predetermined event is thereceiver E-phone failing to answer the connect signal.
 37. The clientservice provider unit of claim 36, wherein the selected function isconnecting, via at least one of the backend telephone system processingunit and the E-phone dialer processing unit, the caller E-phone to aselected receiver E-phone, the selected receiver E-phone being differentfrom the receiver E-phone identified by the alphanumeric string in thefront end connection signal.
 38. The client service provider unit ofclaim 36, wherein the selected function is connecting, via at least oneof the backend telephone system processing unit and the E-phone dialerprocessing unit, the caller E-phone to a voice mail system associatedwith the receiver E-phone identified by the alphanumeric string in thefront end connection signal.